Galactica 1980
Galactica 1980 is a spinoff from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series. It originally aired over ABC between 27 January[http://www.tv.com/shows/galactica-1980/galactica-discovers-earth-1-15037/ TV.Com - Galactica Discovers Earth (1)] and 4 May 1980.[http://www.tv.com/shows/galactica-1980/the-return-of-starbuck-15046/ TV.Com - The Return of Starbuck] Plot summary The Colonial Fleet finally reaches Earth in the year 1980 after thirty years of searching. They find the Humans to be technologically inadequate in both helping the Colonial Fleet fight the Cylons or defending themselves. It becomes their objective to influence the development of Earth in some way. The rogue Commander Xavier works against the wishes of the fleet and chooses to influence the Earth in more destructive means, such as time travelling to the 1930s and providing advanced technology to the Nazis. Production When Battlestar Galactica was cancelled in early 1979 following the completion of "The Hand of God", ABC was unprepared for the letter-writing campaign by fans calling for its return, and eventually entered talks with Universal and pressured them into agreeing to make a second series.http://galactica1981.tripod.com/Cole.htm Universal had come out of pocket in the 1978-79 series, as they were contractually-obligated to pay the deficits on any episode Glen A. Larson over-budgeted, and agreed to produce the series already expecting further loses. ABC, also lacking faith in the project, insisted they would only finance up to $600,000 per episode, meaning cutbacks hat to be made to avoid serious loses. ABC wanted the series to be ready for January 1980, which put even more pressure on Larson; Universal had taken down the sets after "The Hand of God" wrapped up, and many actors such as Dirk Benedict were no longer available due to scheduling conflicts, while Richard Hatch lacked faith and refused outright. To make further cutbacks, characters such as Colonel Tigh were written out to limit the casting budget. As it was already toward the end of 1979 when the series was greenlight, Larson had mere weeks to develop a concept; write; cast; film and edit the opening pilot. Universal was forced to pay staff weekend overtime to beat the deadline; due to union rules this pay was considerably higher than normal. To make money back, Universal included the Battlestar Galactica studio in their weekend tours, inadvertently interrupting the filming. Due to an FCC ruling in effect at the time, a 19:00 timeslot was to be used for family-friendly programming, news and current affairs. To fulfil requirements of offering education to children, scripts were written to include at least four scenes demonstrating demonstrating something education; in the pilot, the character Dr. Zee was therefore scripted to explain how an internal combustion engine worked.Galactica 1980 (1980), episode: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part Ⅰ". Larson quickly entered a feud with the censor, who had also ruled that combat with Cylons was too violent for the timeslot. In one instance, the censor mistook the word "meatballs" for an innuendo and threatened to withhold the episode from airing unless removed; out of spite Larson added the word repeatedly in the following episode to call her bluff. Episodes # "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part Ⅰ" # "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part Ⅱ" # "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part Ⅲ" # "The Super Scouts" # "The Super Scouts, Part Ⅱ" # "Spaceball" # "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part Ⅰ" # "The Night the Cylons Landed, Part Ⅱ" # "Space Croppers" # "The Return of Starbuck" # "The Day They Kidnapped Cleopatra" (unaired; unfinished) Sources